From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Aug. 21, 1971:

In a three-part series on current conditions of city and county law enforcement facilities, a Journal-World writer noted that evidence storage rooms were overflowing to the point that police had placed some items – namely, confiscated marijuana – into unguarded, unlocked rooms. “In some cases, a person with a little ‘inside’ knowledge could walk right into the police department’s ‘stash’ and make a good haul in forbidden fruit,” the article warned. Other complaints about the current police headquarters included what an architect called the building’s “miserable” design, including placement of the main entrance in a stairwell. “There is no real lobby in the building and persons coming to talk to police officers or detectives must pass by the ‘holding cells’ for drunks and others…. Prisoners can not, in many cases, be brought into the jail without passing right by and mixing with persons who are standing in the small waiting area.” With a lack of central evidence storage, closets (scattered through the building) were used for this purpose. The Municipal Court was not air conditioned, nor were most areas above the first floor.